


Second Hand

by NescitOccasum



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, someone finally does something about Tsumugi's hair, welcome to rarepair
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 18:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17472503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NescitOccasum/pseuds/NescitOccasum
Summary: It was a quiet afternoon. Not quite sleepy, but quiet all the same. Hajime-kun had so kindly wiped all the dust from the library shelves. It was an odd thing to feel, he supposed, but secretly Tsumugi missed it a little. He rather liked the dust.It's a particularly slow day at the library -- until Arashi shows up looking for reference materials on hair styling that could work for Leo. When Tsumugi mentions offhandedly that he ought to learn a little about styling himself, Arashi decides to practice his makeover technique on Tsumugi and won't take no for an answer!(Yeah I know it's areallyrarepair, but this is a serious fic, not a joke or anything.)





	Second Hand

It was a quiet afternoon. Not quite sleepy, but quiet all the same. Hajime-kun had so kindly wiped all the dust from the library shelves. It was an odd thing to feel, he supposed, but secretly Tsumugi missed it a little. He rather liked the dust.

Tsumugi traced a finger over a crease in the cover of a faded math textbook. Once, twice, three times. With a dull screech of wood, he slid back his chair and returned to the front desk. He slipped the book back into the stack of first-year textbooks, careful not to topple the cardstock “Ask about the library committee’s tutoring” sign perched on top.

Tsumugi flipped the sign around to face his side of the desk and studied the colorful design. Tsumugi wasn’t entirely sure what the little pictures drawn around the margins were meant to be, but he was sure Midori-kun would know what the freshmen liked better than he would. It was intriguing, really, how much could change in just a couple years.

Tsumugi replaced the sign. Then replaced it again. He moved it a little this way, pushed it over a little that way. It was fine where it was, really, but it was something to do for a minute or two.

Tsumugi leaned back, angling his body towards the clock hanging behind him. He let his eyes wander up the wall, but then stopped and turned back forwards again. If he looked at the clock, he would know it was already time for most clubs on campus to start, and that there wouldn’t be any more visitors to the library.

Tsumugi listened to the soft tick of the second hand. Now that he’d focused on it, it seemed a great deal louder than it had before.

_Shh, don’t tell me what time it is. I’ll figure it out myself!_

Tsukinaga-kun was starting to rub off on him. He laughed quietly. If anyone had been around to witness him chuckling at nothing, well… Well, he supposed it wouldn’t change how people thought of someone like himself much anyhow.

Now that he’d decided it was at least a half hour earlier than any reason would suggest, Tsumugi stretched his legs and stood up.

_Time to… Time to…_

Nothing struck him, so Tsumugi stood aimlessly, trying to come up with something it could be time to do.

_Time to…_

He walked in a little circle.

_Time to…_

He paced in a triangle, then a diamond. He knew the library’s layout so well he was able to walk the pentagon backwards.

By the time Tsumugi worked his way up to an octagon – at which point the shapes were more or less indistinguishable from the original circle – he’d come to peace with the fact that no one was coming to the library today.

With that settled, Tsumugi rounded the corner of a bookshelf and turned back to the front desk, reflexively jumping back when he caught sight of someone standing in front of it.

“Uhh, should I like… Come back later or something?”

Narukami-kun. Definitely not at the top of Tsumugi’s list of people to embarrass himself in front of. He could picture it already; Narukami-kun asking Mika-kun if he always did weird things like pace around the library in backwards heptagons.

Narukami was looking at him with a puzzled tilt to his head and worried brows.

Tsumugi sputtered out, “N-no, welcome to the library! I was just… retracing my steps!” He laughed sheepishly. “Just looking for something, but it can wait.”

Tsumugi could tell by the look Narukami gave him that his explanation had been less than stellar. Fighting back a sigh, he asked, “Can I help you find something?”

Tsumugi was used to being looked at with pity, but it was another matter entirely when it was someone as good looking as Narukami doing it.

Mercifully, Narukami nodded and changed the subject, as though he hadn’t just caught Tsumugi slipping over the brink into madness. What a terrifying thing boredom was, really.

“Yeah, I was wondering if maybe the library had some books on hair styling?”

Tsumugi looked back at him blankly for a moment, dumbfounded. The idea of Arashi Narukami, _very_ proud owner of some of the nicest hair in school, asking him of all people about hair styling. Well, not him specifically, but with the frequency Natsume-kun threatened to chop Tsumugi’s hair off, it was a surreal situation to be in nonetheless.

Somewhat mystified, he mustered up a reply.

“Yes! What with Yumenosaki being what it is, we have a rather nice collection of fashion magazines and books on makeup and styling. They’re over this way.”

As he led Narukami over, Narukami spoke up from behind him.

“Thanks! Ou-sama is always just tossing his hair in a messy ponytail over his shoulder, even during performances. I’ve been wanting to do _something_ about it for the longest time, and like Anzu-chan’s as bad as Ou-sama is and God I can’t take it anymore.”

As a serial offender himself, Tsumugi wasn’t entirely sure how to respond.

“Ahaha, they’re very lucky to have a friend like you,” he said, stopping in front of a shelf of beauty-related books. “There should be references on hair styling here. Maybe I should try taking a leaf out of your book and study up on it a little myself. Natsume-kun is always telling me I need to fix my hair, but I’m afraid I’ve never been good at that sort of thing.”

Narukami had begun pulling out magazines. Without so much of a glance back at Tsumugi, he replied, “What, no way! Your hair always looked amazing last year. I thought you just didn’t fuss with it much outside of shows or something.”

“Ah, no, that wasn’t me. Fine had dedicated stylists. Oh, well, it still _does_ have them, I suppose, just… You know.” He laughed sheepishly.

Narukami stopped flipping through pages to look over at Tsumugi. Without a word of warning, he reached a hand out and grabbed a lock of Tsumugi’s hair, rubbing it gently between his fingers with a soft “hmm.”

Narukami set his magazines down on a stepstool. He spread his fingers and ran them up through Tsumugi’s curls, fluffing them upwards, then reaching around Tsumugi’s neck to hold them back.

Narukami had that artist’s look Shu always got in his eyes while designing outfits, so Tsumugi held still and let him tilt his head this way and that, fiddling with his bangs. With Narukami leaning in so close, it occurred to Tsumugi that he smelled quite nice. He tried not to think too hard on that, trying to direct his eyes somewhere away from Narukami.

“Sorry, just hold your head still for a sec. I think I’ve almost got it.”

Tsumugi apologized and resigned himself to watching Narukami’s ear. He wondered how Mika ever managed letting Shu do this to him on a daily basis.

After a minute, Narukami pulled back and put his hands on his hips.

“Alright! I think I’ve got a good idea for your hair. You’re free now right?”

“Ah, I appreciate the offer, but I need to attend to library matters…”

“Like walking around the bookshelves backwards?”

Tsumugi sighed.

“C’mon, Aoba-senpai! Think of it as like helping an underclassman study.”

Narukami quickly grabbed his magazine pile and yanked a couple more from the shelf, then pushed the whole lot out to Tsumugi with a wink.

“I’m gonna go run to my locker to grab my iron and stuff! You flip through those and see if there are any styles you like. Be right back!”

Narukami skipped off towards the door, then spun back around.

“Wait, you have outlets in here, right?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect!”

Narukami flashed him a smile that could stop hearts, then half-jogged out of the library, humming brightly.

Tsumugi stood, frozen to the spot, surrounded by faintly lemon-scented shelves, wiped free of their coats of dust. It was an odd thing to feel, really, since he rather liked the dust but…

With the vanilla and citrus of Narukami’s perfume still lingering around him, even though he knew the smell of dusty sun-faded books suited him better, part of him felt the tiniest bit curious.

What a terrifying thing boredom was.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got so many unfinished drafts in my fic folder, but lately I've been wanting to just try putting things out and see where they go. I know this is such a weird pairing but TsumuNaru has so much potential, so I hope you'll give it a try!
> 
> I like the idea of Tsumugi having given up on his appearance a little and being fine with 'comfortable and easy,' but Arashi showing him that with a little confidence and even the littlest bit of effort, Tsumugi's still every bit as handsome as he was when he was in fine. Also, they're almost the same height, and I really like the talkative/good listener types of ships, and they get along well in the stories they're together.
> 
> I'd love to hear any thoughts you have on the pairing!


End file.
